ACE Report Released: Modern Streetcar Advocates Excited for Next Step

Group Optimistic a Streetcar Can Happen WITHOUT City-Wide Tax Increases

OMAHA, Neb., March 9, 2018 – The results of the Advanced Conceptual Engineering (ACE) Report, completed by HDR under the direction of Metro, have been released, marking the conclusion of a series of studies and reports exploring the feasibility of a streetcar in Omaha. The ACE Report includes a detailed capital cost summary and preliminary operating cost estimate for the streetcar.

“Modern Streetcar Advocates is pleased to finally see the results,” said Jay Lund, a spokesperson from Modern Streetcar Advocates. “This brings us one step closer to the streetcar becoming a reality.”

Modern Streetcar Advocates wants to see a win-win for everyone. Major stakeholders in midtown and downtown are exploring different funding scenarios for the streetcar that would NOT require a city-wide tax increase. They plan on sharing their solutions this summer.

“We are confident a vast majority of the funding for the streetcar can be paid for from within the corridor by those who benefit the most: businesses and commercial property owners along the route, developers, and area institutions,” said Mike Moylan of Shamrock Development. “There is no need for a city-wide tax increase to complete the project.”

Streetcars are economic engines because when done right, they generate their own funding. In fact, the streetcar can create additional funds for the city. Modern Streetcar Advocates emphasizes each year Omaha puts off the project, the streetcar becomes more expensive, and the city misses opportunity to capture the additional value it generates. The time to kick off this project is now.

Modern Streetcar Advocates, a growing collaboration of community visionaries, public transportation champions and everyday people who love Omaha, sees a streetcar as the key to unlocking a larger transit vision in Omaha and a catalyst for real growth here. Now is the time to connect the major investments we’ve made in downtown and midtown, so people can move easily all across the urban core, without having to drive and park, making Omaha a more vibrant, accessible, prosperous, cosmopolitan and successful city.

You can find Modern Streetcar Advocates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @StreetcarOmaha.